“Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.'” (Matthew 18:21-22)
Jesus teaches a lesson on the necessity of forgiveness. He told the disciples, and thereby us, that we have a duty to forgive, a responsibility to forgive those who have offended or sinned against us, primarily those within the fellowship of believers.
This concept may rankle many of us since it not only hurts to forgive, it also goes against the popular norm. Forgiving someone is not easy but to forgive someone who cursed and belittled you seventy-seven times in one day, is impossible. You could do this once, maybe even two or three times, but by the fourth time most of us would be ready to smack that person around. These days there are many who would not even want to forgive once time. We see such people on our streets and hear about it the media. Someone who has been “dissed” wants to immediately exact his revenge on the one who did it usually causing property damage, ridicule and even bodily harm or death.
Many have forgotten these words of Jesus, forgotten that the Lord is watching them at all times. But even we Christians often withhold forgiveness. Maybe something someone did to you was unforgivable, or someone did something evil to one of your loved ones, your wife, your son or daughter, your parents, or perhaps a friend. How would you feel toward a person who abused your child? How would you feel about someone who has murdered or accidentally killed someone you love? How do you feel about the President of the United States or the former President? Do you think to yourself “I can’t forgive that person? That person did something that was unforgivable?” Despite how we may feel about forgiveness, Jesus tells us that we have an obligation to forgive all who injure us.
Jesus forgave us while we were still sinners. He forgave those who crucified Him. He did not wait for our apology or contrition before He took steps to forgive. Since we are forgiven in this manner, we are called ought to do the same.
Forgiving means that I relinquish my desire to exact judgment. When we withhold forgiveness it is almost always because we want revenge or our form of justice. But justice has already been satisfied on the cross. Which of the offending party’s sins were not forgiven at the cross? If we continued to withhold forgiveness, we make a mockery of the cross. All our sins are infinite offenses against an Almighty God but He forgives them. The sins others commit against us or we against them are minuscule in comparison. If God can forgive us, He can enable us to forgive others.